Bobby pin spreader and holder



Dec. 15, 1953 A. swANsoN ET AL 2,662,533

BOBBY PIN SPREADER AND HOLDER Filed Dec. 12, 1952 NVENTORS.

Patented Dec. 15, I953 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE BOBBY PIN SPREADER AND HOLDER Alma Swanson, Inglewood, and Arthur F. Heifernan, Hawthorne, Calif.

Application December 12, 1952, Serial No. 325,534

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a bobby pin spreader and holder.

Although a considerable number of bobby pin spreaders and holders have hitherto been devised there remains ample room for improving such devices, one reason for this being that a common defect of such devices has been that they have provided no adequate means to maintain the mounted bobby pin in a fully spread out condition until it can be manually grasped for being applied to the curled or otherwise formed hair. In other words the mounted, spread pins have tended to contract, bringing their limbs toward or into their original positions during their manual removal from the holding device, thus greatly impairing its utility for the performance of the intended purpose.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a device which will overcome the aforesaid defect by the provision of means which will positively maintain the limbs of the mounted pin widely spread apart until after they have been grasped by the hand of the operator preparatory to inserting them into the formed hair.

Other objects of the invention are: to provide a bobby pin spreader and holder which is furnished with improved guide means to assist the user more quickly and accurately to direct the pin to its mounted, spread condition upon the device; to provide a bobby pin holder having improved means to lock the mounted pin in place thereon till it is to be used; and to provide an improved, three point pin contacting arrangement of pin holding arms which stabilize the mounted bobby pin in an advantageous position for being expeditiously manually removed and applied to the hair.

A more specific object is to provide a single piece bobby pin spreader and holder which is bent in such a manner as to provide upper and lower oppositely arcuated strips or arms which converge toward each other and co-operate to support the spread pin in a. position wherein it may be grasped near its midlength portion by the free hand of the user, thus preventing the arms of the pin from inspringing until after the pin has been removed.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrative of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device illustrating the initial step of mounting a bobby pin upon the device while the latter is in place upon the forefinger of the operator shown in dotted lines.

Fig. '-2 is aside elevation, similar to Fig. 1, ex cept that the final step in spreading and mounting the bobby pin is shown.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bobby pin spreader per se.

Fig. 4 is a vertical midsection of the complete device.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the stamped out blank from which the one piece device is made.

The structure of the device will be best understood by first referring to Fig. 5, wherein is shown a stamped out cruciate blank of bendable, form retaining sheet material, said blank comprising as viewed in said figure, an upper vertical arm 7, a lower vertical arm 8, and laterally extending arms 9 and I. Said arm 1, where it joins the lateral arms 9 and Iii, is triangularly broadened, to form a saddle II when the device is bent into its final shape, as shown in the remaining views, particularly in Fig. 3. 1

At the same time that the blank shown in Fig. 5 is stamped out, said saddle is so shaped as to provide along the sides thereof upbent edge portions I2 and I3. Also, at the same time, the vertical arm 8 is transversely arcuated at I4 to provide a depressed guideway for the end of one limb i5 of the bobby pin during the hereinafter described pin spreading operation; and also the arm 1 is provided across the outer end with a notch i5 engageable with the waved portion of the other arm I i of the bobby pin.

Through the inner end portion of the arm 7! where it joins the saddle ll, an aperture is is provided to admit the end portion of the limb i 5 of the bobby pin, as more fully hereinafter described.

The arms 9 and I 0 are outcurved from each other to provide for the devi e a finger mounting means adapted to encircle the forefinger is of the operator, as indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2. It is optional which joint of the finger is embraced by this finger mounting means, but it is deemed preferable to mount the device upon the inner joint of the forefinger oi the left hand of the operator, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. By thus mounting the device the outer end portion of the forefinger of the operator is left free to manipulate the hair into the desired curls and thereafter to mount them upon the bobby-pin, there to remain until their final removal.

The first step of shaping the device may consist of doubling over backwardly (as viewed in Fig. 5) the arm 7 of the cruciate blank, the bend occurring where said arm joins the transverse portion of the cross. Along with thus doubling over said arm throughout about the outer twothirds of its length it is slightly outwardly arouated in relation to the arm 8, the latter arm being a forward extension of the lower plate of the saddle II.

In the formation of the device, subsequent to the initial step of shaping the arm 1, the arm 8 is contoured to the downwardly arcuate shape shown.

When the formation of said arms I and 8 has been completed the arm I will be upwardly inclined and its outer end portion (viewing the device in its operative position), will be slightly spaced above the upwardly directed end of the arm 8 and said arm 1 will extend considerably farther than the arm 3 from the aforesaid saddle portion of the device. In the mounted device said arm 1 occupies the same vertical plane as the axis of the ring structure produced by the co-operating arms 9 and IE1.

It is to be noted that the guide arm 8 is contoured in such a manner as to provide an internal shoulder 21 into contact with which the pin limb 15 will come when the pin reaches its fully mounted and fully spread condition shown in Fig. 2. At this time the pin will contact the device at four points, two of them being opposite sides of the aperture 18 the third being said shoulder 2i or the recess at the base thereof, and the fourth being the notched portion it of the arm I. The pin is thus mounted in a stable, though readily removable manner.

Preparatory to mounting a bobby pin upon the device the user thereof will insert a finger (preferably the forefinger), through the finger mounting ring afforded by the co-operating, semi-circular arms t and H! which embrace the finger when the device is in use. The first step of the hobby pin mounting operation is illustrated in Fig. 1, where the shorter limb of the pin is shown having been horizontally inserted through the aperture iii (see Fig. 2) and its extremity brought into an abutting relation to the grooved midwidth part of the concave side of the downwardly arcuate guide arm 8, which occupies substantially the same vertical plane as the axis of the aforesaid ring. The user of the device is aided in guiding the end of the pin limb l5 through the aperture H; by the elongated, triangularly shaped guideway or saddle II which results from the presence of the already mentioned upbent lips l2 and I3 which border said guideway.

After, in the above stated manner, bringing the pin to the position thereof shown in Fig. 1 wherein it is slightly spread with its longer arm resting upon the outer end portion of the arm 1, the operator will swing the pin anti-clockwise, thus causing the extremity of it shorter limb IE to move downwardly along the grooved midwidth portion of the arm 8 until said limb abuts the shoulder 2i and at the same time the end of the pin limb i'l glides through and passes beyond the notch it. When the pin has reached this position its limbs will be properly spaced apart and it will be supported in a stable manner in the upstanding position shown in Fig. 2, ready for the operator to grasp it in its midlength end portion, preparatory to inserting it into the curled or otherwise prepared hair.

We claim:

1. A bobby pin spreader and holder comprising a pair of cooperating finger embracing wings semicircularly bent so as substantially to form a ring to encircle a finger of the user, a guide arm which, when the device is in its operative use upon a finger of the user, extend from the top of said ring, said guide arm being downwardly arcuate and occupying substantially the same vertical plane as the axis of said ring so as to extend over and contact with the finger upon which the ring is mounted, a spreader arm carried by the top portion of said ring, one end portion of said spreader arm forming a saddle which overlies the top of the ring and the remaining portion of said spreader arm being upwardly inclined and extended outwardly from the aforesaid ring to a point beyond and superjacent to the outer end of said guide arm, there being an aperture through said spreader arm adjacent to said saddle through which to feed from above one limb of the bobby pin while the other limb thereof is caused to glide along the upper side of said spreader arm to a mounted spread condition upon said two arms.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 and said spreader arm having a notch in its outer end in which one end portion of the mounted bobby pin laterally seats, thus stabilizing the pin in its mounted position.

3. The subject matter of claim 1 and the saddle portion of said spreader arm being a doubled over extension of the upper part of said ring.

4. The subject matter of claim 1 and said saddle having upwardly deflected side edge portions which form between them a guide to direct into said aperture that end of the bobby pin which is fed therethrough.

5. The subject matter of claim 1 and means to maintain the pin in its spread apart mounted position, said means comprising a notch in the outer end of said spreader arm to engage one limb of the pin, and a shoulder carried by said guide arm subjacent to said aperture whereagainst to abut the free end of the other limb of the pin, said shoulder and the opposite sides of said aperture through which the latter limb extends forming a three point locking contact for such limb.

6. A bobby pin spreader and holder comprisin a ring portion to receive a finger of the user, to mount the device in an operative position, a guide arm carried by the upper part of said ring, said guide arm consisting of a strip of sheet material which is transversely downwardly arcuate and which is also downwardly arcuate in relation to its length, and a bobby pin spreader arm carried by said ring portion in a superjacent relation to said guide arm, said spreader arm having an aperture through it adjacent to said ring portion, the inner end portion of said spreader arm being contoured to form a groove to guide the end portion of the shorter limb of the bobby pin to said aperture, said guide arm having a shoulder portion against which is laterally abuttablo the end portion of said bobby pin limb which is inserted through said aperture to aid in maintaining the pin in its mounted position upon the device, while the longer limb of the pin engages said spreader arm.

'7. The subject matter of claim 6 and said spreader arm having a notch in its outer end in which is laterally seatable the end portion of the longer limb of the bobby pin while its shorter limb is in said abutting relation to the aforesaid shoulder.

8. A bobby pin spreader and holder comprising a saddle consisting of a lower plate, and an upper plate superimposed upon said lower plate, a finger mounting means carried by and extending downwardly from said lower plate, an elongated bobby pin guide consisting of a forward extension of said lower plate, said guide being transversely downwardly arcuate and also being downwardly arcuate in relation to its length, and a hobby pin spreader arm consisting of a forward extension of said upper plate which terminates slightly beyond and superjacent to the outer end of said elongated guide, there being an aperture through the inner end portion of said spreader arm affording a passage to admit from above the longer arm of a hobby pin till its extremity is contacted with the guide, and there being a notch 6 across the outer end of said spreader arm to receive the outer end portion of the shorter arm of the bobby pin, thus to maintain said pin in a spread out condition.

AL. SWANSON. ARTHUR F. HEFFERNAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,480,581 Hopkins Aug. 30, 1949 2,543,356 Deuillet Feb. 27, 1951 

